BUCHANAN,ROY - SWEET DREAMS Price: €12.99 Format: Compact Disc Availability: Immediate Dispatch

This substantial two-disc Polydor set culls some of the finest cuts from Buchanan's '70s recordings for a retrospective of his early career. The master guitarist's facility with mid-tempo grooves ("Baltimore"), steamy slow blues ("After Hours"), hard-driving rockers ("My Baby Says She's Going To Leave Me"), slide workouts ("Tribute To Elmore James"), revamped covers ("Hey Joe", "Down By The River", "Green Onions"), and evocative instrumentals (the title cut) is fully in evidence here.
Though Buch hadn't yet developed the mercurial, tone-manipulating style that would characterise his work in the '80s and '90s, his fluid runs, scratches, wails, screeching harmonics, and his utter command of the blues guitar vocabulary place him head and shoulders above even the better-than-better six-string slingers of the time. Though the general mood of SWEET DREAMS is somewhat more subdued than many of Buch's dates (with more of an emphasis on slow blues and ballads), the backing musicians lend keen, rugged support to the wizard's flights of fancy, particularly on the set's six live cuts. SWEET DREAMS is the most comprehensive and compelling overview of Buchanan's early work available.